Photo  sraohv* 


Dr.  William  H.  Trueman’s 


FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE  LIBRARY 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Class  Book--/- /..  Accession  — - ZStJU/  8* 

Given  by  ...  JJ..  .7^ . . . . Jd/./y.  ......  


Me. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/modernpracticeof00piqu_0 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE 


OF 


RETOUCHING 


M.  PIQUEPE, 


AND  OTHER  EXPERTS, 


French,  English,  and  American. 


NEW  YORK  : 

SCOVILL  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY. 
W.  Irving  Adams,  Agent. 

1882. 


V 


I ■ 


I 


y 


x 


\ 


PREFACE. 


In  introducing  to  the  American  public  the  practical  remarks 
of  the  skillful  French  retoucher,  M.  Piquepe,  little  need  be 
said.  Retouching  is  a branch  of  art  that  has  taken  firm  root  in 
all  directions,  and  by  its  judicious  use  has  conferred  a beauty 
upon  negatives  previously  unknown.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
some  carry  it  to  such  an  extent  as  to  far  transcend  its  legitimate 
functions  and  entirely  destroy  the  likeness  in  the  desire  to  flatter 
the  subject. 

It  is  well  said  that  the  legitimate  functions  of  retouching  are 
the  removal  of  blemishes  and  the  correction  of  such  inequalities 
as  those  caused  in  the  photographic  reproduction  of  colors, 
which  are  often  untrue  to  nature.  Its  debatable  sphere  is  the 
softening  of  shadows  and  lines  in  the  features  in  conjunction 
with  attempts  to  alter  the  expression. 

With  these  remarks  we  introduce  M.  Piquepe. 


'/'3  3^-S' 


\ 


. 


The  Modern  Practice  § Retouching. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

» 

RETOUCHING— ITS  USE  AND  PLACE. 

The  retouching  of  photographic  negatives  has  become  much 
more  general  during  the  last  few  years.  I shall  not  here  seek 
to  prove  the  practical  utility  of  it ; the  favor  with  which  the 
custom  has  been  received  by  photographers  in  general  is  a suf- 
ficient proof  of  it.  Unfortunately,  it  has  been  in  this  as  in  all 
other  arts  : a great  many  indifferent  operators,  imagining  that 
it  was  sufficient  to  work  more  or  less  on  a face,  to  add  or  take 
away  in  certain  places,  without  discretion,  cleverness  or  taste, 
have  rushed  into  this  work  and  have  produced  results  so  gro- 
tesque and  ridiculous  that  there  are  even  now  experienced  per- 
sons who  deny  that  retouching  is  a means  of  improving  their 
work.  This  is  certainly  a mistake,  because,  though  there  are 
had  retouchers,  yet  there  are  very  clever  disciples  of  this  new 
art.  And  this  is  so  true  that  in  many  studios  the  operator 
trusts  entirely  to  the  skill  of  the  retoucher.  He  troubles  him- 
self very  little  with  his  manipulations  ; he  cares  little  whether 
his  sitter  is  well  or  badly  lighted ; whether  his  negatives  are 
free  from  spots  or  stains ; if  the  negative  is  sharp  and  not  too 
hard,  the  retouching,  he  thinks,  will  do  all  the  rest.  In  other 
studios  the  operator  is  instructed  to  produce  thin  negatives 
without  any  vigor,  but  over-exposed  and  full  of  detail;  no 


6 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


bright  lights  are  left,  the  whole  is  flat  and  dead,  and  the  re- 
toucher must  give  life  to  everything.  This  I do  not  hesitate  to 
say  is  all  wrong.  Probably  in  this  way  the  public  get  prints 
which  flatter  their  caprice,  but  an  experienced  eye  will  soon 
detect  the  faults  of  these  productions,  and  will  condemn  them 
at  once  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  for  everything  is  rounded 
and  cut  off ; the  figure  and  the  background  are  stuck  one  on 
the  other ; there  is  no  depth,  no  atmosphere — nothing  but  a 
mechanical  work,  sometimes  cleverly  done,  but  powerless  to 
give  truthful  pictures. 

Looking  at  it  in  this  way,  it  is  true  that  retouching  has  done 
more  harm  than  good  to  photography ; but  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  this  sort  of  work  is  not  general.  There  are  photog- 
raphers who  have  appropriated  this  new  means  to  their  require- 
ments, only  using  it  as  a remedy  i or  inevitable  faults  in  pho- 
tographic manipulations.  These  persons  are  right,  and  we  all 
admire  their  works. 

Therefore,  I cannot  lay  it  down  too  clearly  that  retouching, 
even  when  done  by  a real  artist,  should  be  considered  only  as. 
a necessary  continuation  of  very  careful  work ; not  that  the 
part  of  the  retoucher  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  operator,  but 
that  the  two  should  work  so  well  together  that  the  final  result 
will  be  arrived  at  through  the  cleverness  of  both. 

It  is  not  everybody  who  can  touch  well.  It  is  a work  requir- 
ing a great  deal  of  taste,  lightness  of  hand,  close  application, 
and  great  patience,  all  of  which  qualities  few  people  possess. 
But  every  photographer  is  capable  of  correcting  in  his  nega- 
tives all  faults  which  may  occur,  no  matter  how  skilled  the 
operator  may  be. 

These  are  the  means  which  I shall  describe  as  clearly  and 
practically  as  possible  in  the  following  pages,  avoiding  entering 
into  superfluous  details  of  science,  or,  rather,  of  anatomy,  a 
knowledge  of  which  being  in  no  way  indispensable,  and  which 
could  only  puzzle  the  learner,  and  in  all  probability  lead  him 
astray.  Perhaps  even  a clever  retoucher  may  learn  some  hints 
from  them,  while  those  who  wish  to  learn  the  art  will  find,  I 
am  sure,  clear  explanations,  and  will  be  enabled  to  succeed  at 
once,  without  going  into  a too  exaggerated  style  of  work. 


CHAPTER  II. 


MATERIALS  NECESSARY  FOR  NEGATIVE  RETOUCHING. 

The  first  tiling  wanted  is  an  easel  on  which  to  work.  This 
should  he  a piece  of  fine  ground  glass  in  a frame,  on  which  the 
negative  is  placed  The  bottom  of  this  frame  has  hinges  as 
well  as  the  top,  which  retain  a cover  of  wood  kept  open  by 
means  of  small  supports,  which  are  lying  on  the  sides  of  the 
frame  of  the  ground  glass.  The 
necessary  slant  is  given  to  this  by 
means  of  two  other  supports,  en- 
tering at  will  into  some  notches 
on  the  edges  of  the  surface  of  a 
flat  and  square  box,  of  which  the 
middle  is  covered  by  a looking 
glass  reflecting  the  light  under  the 
negative.  Several  carriers,  same 
size  as  the  ordinary  photographic 
glasses,  and  fitting  one  into  the 
other,  stop  completely  the  light  round  the  negative.  A little 
movable  rule  goes  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  ground  glass, 
and  serves  as  a rest  for  the  hand  of  the  retoucher.  This  easel 
should  he  put  upon  a table  before  a window  with  a north 
aspect.  As  there  should  be  no  light  except  what  illuminates 
the  negative,  a black  blind  should  be  thrown  over  the  top,  and 
to  fall  down  each  side.  There  are  easels  sold  on  purpose,  and 
provided  even  with  wooden  shutters,  which  are  kept  open  by 
hooks  fitting  into  the  top  shutter.  The  retoucher  is  thus  in- 
closed in  a box,  and  gets  no  light  except  what  comes  through 
the  negative. 

The  choice  of  pencils  and  brushes  is  very  important.  The 


8 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


Grossberger  and  Kurz  pencils,  manufactured  in  Germany,  I 
find  the  best.  They  are  numbered,  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  tints  they  give,  light  or  dark,  No.  1 being  the  softest, 
and  2,  3,  or  4 harder.  These  four  numbers  are  sufficient  for 
all  work.  F or  cutting  these  pencils  use  a little  file,  on  which 
they  should  be  rubbed,  or  very  fine  emery  paper  cut  into  nar- 
row slips. 

The  brushes  should  be  sable,  and  very  soft.  It  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  get  good  brushes,  so  they  should  be  chosen  with  great 
care.  They  must  be  pretty  thick,  not  too  long,  and  with  a 
very  good  point.  All  this  will  be  easily  found  out  by  dipping 
them  in  water  and  bending  them  about.  If  a brush,  then,  at 
once  make  a fine  point,  it  is  a good  one. 

The  two  colors  most  required  in  negative  retouching  are 
Indian  ink  and  light  blue.  The  first  is  the  most  opaque  color, 
but  as  the  tint  is  the  nearest  to  the  negative,  it  will  permit  of 
finer  work. 

A magnifying  glass  may  be  used,  which  will  render  some 
parts  more  apparent — for  instance,  if  a very  small  head  is  be- 
ing done — but  for  general  work  it  magnifies  the  faults  too 
much,  and  the  general  effect  and  modeling  are  lost  in  paying 
too  much  attention  to  detail. 

Finally,  stumps  of  different  sizes,  and  a very  soft  camel  hair 
brush  for  dusting  the  surface  during  the  operation,  will  com- 
plete the  list  of  necessary  implements  for  the  retoucher. 


CHAPTEK  III. 


DIFFERENT  SURFACES  FOR  TOUCHING  ON. 

Many  discussions  Lave  been  raised  as  to  which  varnish  gives 
the  best  surface  for  touching  on,  and  many  methods  have  been 
proposed.  Gum  arabic  dissolved  in  water  has  long  been  used  ; 
but  there  are  certain  drawbacks  to  this  method  which  have 
caused  it  to  be  very  generally  abandoned.  The  solution  must 
not  be  too  strong,  or  the  pencil  will  not  mark  on  it ; and  as, 
in  damp  weather,  it  is  never  perfectly  dry,  working  on  it  is 
somewhat  dangerous.  Besides,  the  density  both  of  the  nega- 
tive and  of  the  touches  on  it  changes  after  being  varnished, 
and  gum  being  so  easily  affected  by  damp,  the  collodion  films 
will  be  sure  to  suffer  more  or  less. 

Dr.  Y an  Monckhoven  advises  the  use  of  a varnish  composed 
as  follows : Make  a concentrated  solution  of  carbonate  of  am- 
monia, to  which  add  some  ordinary  shellac ; let  stand  for 
twenty-four  hours,  and,  having  decanted  off  the  clear  part,  add 
to  it  an  equal  quantity  of  water ; heat  this  to  boiling  point, 
stirring  all  the  time,  and  there  will  then  be  a brown  solution 
of  shellac  in  the  proportion  of  eight  parts  to  one  hundred 
parts  of  water.  Filter  before  use.  This  solution  must  smell 
of  shellac ; if  it  smells  of  ammonia,  it  will  not  have  been 
properly  prepared.  Apply  two  coatings  of  this  to  the  nega- 
tive after  it  has  been  washed  and  drained.  When  dry  the  film 
is  brilliant,  insoluble  in  water,  and  hard  enough  not  to  require 
any  other  varnish  if  only  a few  prints  are  required.  The 
negative  can,  however,  be  varnished  as  usual,  and  the  second 
coating,  being  quite  unable  to  penetrate  the  first,  will  not  cause 
any  change  either  in  the  density  of  the  negative  or  the  touches 
on  it. 


10 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


It  has  become  very  general  of  late  to  find  retouching  done 
on  the  varnish  itself,  though  there  are  no  varnishes  made  for 
touching  on  which  quite  answer  the  purpose ; most  of  them 
do  not  take  the  pencil  well  enough  to  allow  of  a very  fine  and 
careful  touching,  while  others  fall  into  the  other  extreme,  so 
that  regular  work  is  impossible.  Besides,  in  most  of  the 
experiments  in  this  matter,  and  in  formulas  given,  people 
appear  to  think  more  about  getting  a soft  surface  than  to  get 
a strong  protection  for  the  collodion  film,  which  appears  to  me 
to  be  a most  important  thing.  F or  this  reason  I do  not  advise 
the  use  of  any  cold  varnishes ; they  do  not  resist  sufficiently 
the  change  of  the  temperature,  and  often  cause  the  loss  of 
negatives.  However,  as  it  is  sometimes  desirable  to  use  a 
retouching  varnish,  I give  the  following  formulas : 


Ho.  1. 


Shellac, 

125  parts. 

Gum  sandarac, 

- 120  “ 

Rosin,  - 

5 “ 

Castor  oil,  - 

10  “ 

Alcohol, 

500  “ 

Dissolve  the  gums  in  the  alcohol,  let  stand  a day,  and  add  the 
castor  oil. 

Ho.  2. 

Ho.  1. — Alcohol, 

80  parts. 

Sandarac,  - 

- 15  “ 

Turpentine, 

5 “ 

Oil  of  lavender, 

4 “ 

Ho.  2. — Alcohol, 

22  parts. 

Ether, 

2 “ 

Camphor, 

- 5 “ 

Distilled  water, 

10  “ 

Mix  the  two  solutions,  let  stand  some 

days,  and  filter.  This 

formula  is  very  piuch  used,  and  has  even  been  patented  in  the 

United  States. 


DIFFERENT  SURFACES  FOR  TOUCHING  ON. 


11 


No.  3. 


Gum  sandarac, 
Castor  oil, 
Alcohol, 


30  parts. 


6 “ 
18  “ 


Dissolve  the  sandarac  in  the  alcohol,  and  afterward  add  the 
castor  oil. 

These  varnishes  are  to  be  used  hot.  The  greatest  drawback 
to  them  is  that  they  depend  too  much  on  the  amount  of  heat- 
ing given  to  the  negative.  If  applied  too  hot  the  surface  is 
very  brilliant,  and  so  hard  that  the  pencil  leaves  no  mark ; if, 
on  the  contrary,  it  has  not  been  sufficiently  heated,  the  film  is 
soft,  and  scratches  easily. 

What  appears  to  me  to  be  the  easiest  and  safest  way  is  as 
follows  : Use  a very  hard  and  brilliant  varnish,  and  deaden  the 
parts  about  to  be  touched  with  the  following  solution  : 

Pure  turpentine,  - - - 100  parts. 

Gum  dammar,  - - 5 “ 

Apply  this  to  the  varnish  with  a rather  dry  brush;  let  dry 
three  or  four  hours.  This  may  be  used  with  all  hot  varnishes 
which  do  not  contain  castor  or  lavender  oils. 

Another  method  of  making  all  varnishes  fit  for  touching  on 
is  the  following:  With  a piece  of  cottonwool  take  a little 
emery  powder  or  cuttle-fish,  and  rub  over  the  part  to  be 
touched  till  the  surface  becomes  mat  and  takes  the  pencil  mark 
easily.  This  operation  should  be  done  over  the  ground  glass 
of  the  desk,  great  care  being  taken  not  to  damage  the  collodion 
film  by  rubbing  too  hard.  This  way  takes  a longer  time,  and 
is  less  certain  than  the  other ; besides,  the  surface  obtained  is 
not  always  uniform,  and  the  pencil,  therefore,  works  irregu- 
larly. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


HOW  TO  RETOUCH. 

Before  beginning  to  touch,  the  artist  should  examine  his 
negative  well,  so  as  to  decide  what  he  will  do  to  get  the  best 
effects.  If  the  negative  is  faultless  as  to  lighting,  the  half 
tints  well  defined,  and  the  shadows  are  not  too  black,  the  work 
will  be  easy.  There  will  only  be  the  little  inequalities  of  the 
skin  to  take  out,  to  gently  soften  parts  that  always  come  out 
too  hard,  such  as  the  shadows  under  the  eyes,  nose,  and  chin. 

Always  begin  with  the  highest  light,  which  is  the  most 
opaque  part  of  the  negative.  Touch  out  all  little  transparent 
specks,  which  is  done  by  leaning  the  point  of  the  pencil, 
which  must  be  very  finely  cut,  on  to  the  middle  of  the  spot. 
The  pencil  must  be  so  used  that  the  lines  made  by  it  are  not 
more  opaque  than  the  surrounding  part  of  the  negative,  and 
put  the  touches  as  close  together  as  possible,  in  order  to  get  an 
even  result.  So  that  the  whole  shall  blend  well  together,  the 
point  of  the  pencil  must  work  over  all  the  specks  and  spots 
that  have  to  be  eradicated,  and  go  gradually  downward  from 
the  forehead  to  the  eye,  then  the  nose,  mouth,  and  chin,  in  one 
continuous  motion. 

If,  when  all  this  is  done,  the  negative  looks  flat  and  thin,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  think  about  giving  effects  of  light.  To 
do  this,  begin  again  at  the  upper  part  of  the  forehead ; put  a 
few  well-rounded  lines  over  the  eyebrows,  then  a short  line  on 
the  bridge  of  the  nose,  starting  from  a little  below  the  eye- 
brow ; then,  further  down,  a point  of  light  which  will  round 
off  the  end  and  bring  it  well  in  relief ; the  same  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  cheek  Tones,  on  the  lips,  and  chin.  A 11  this  must 
be  done  with  a delicate  hand,  though  the  lights  must  be  well 


HOW  TO  RETOUCH. 


13 


defined  by  tlie  little  fine  touches,  always  avoiding  a regular 
batching  appearance.  The  touches  should  become  less  opaque 
toward  the  lower  part  of  the  face ; the  principal  lights  being 
on  the  top  of  the  forehead,  over  the  eyebrows,  the  bridge  of 
the  nose,  and  the  cheek  bone  ; the  side  of  the  nose,  the  corners 
of  the  mouth,  and  the  cheek  being  the  middle  tints,  while 
under  the  eyebrows,  the  eyes,  the  line  indicated  by  the  aisle  of 
the  nose,  underneath  the  nose,  and  the  line  of  the  chin,  are  in 
the  deepest  shadow. 

With  old  people  some  lines  and  wrinkles  may  be  taken 
out,  but  not  all  of  them,  or  else  the  character  of  the  face 
is  lost. 

W ith  very  thin  faces  avoid  working  too  much  on  the  hol- 
lows, on  the  forehead,  temples,  and  cheeks,  or  the  face  will  be- 
come too  rounded,  and  the  resemblance  gone. 

All  these  things  must  be  determined  upon  by  examining  the 
negatives  very  carefully  from  different  distances,  as  it  is  im- 
possible to  judge  of  the  effect  of  the  touches  and  the  general 
harmony  of  the  picture  by  looking  at  it  closely. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  shadows  under  the  eyes  are 
too  dark  to  be  worked  upon  by  the  pencil.  In  this  case  a 
brush  must  be  used,  and  Indian  ink  mixed  with  water.  The 
brush  must  be  very  finely  pointed,  and  with  little  color  in  it, 
and  nearly  dry ; as,  if  the  eolor  is  put  on  very  wet,  the  density 
of  the  work  would  change  in  drying,  and  the  retouching 
would  be  very  rough  and  take  longer  to  do.  This  mode  of 
touching  may  be  used  with  advantage  on  places  where  the  pen- 
cil alone  does  not  give  a sufficiently  strong  tint. 

Negatives  that  have  been  too  much  intensified  with  pyro- 
gallic  acid  are  very  difficult  to  work  upon,  on  account  of  the 
opacity  of  the  lights  and  the  hard  transparency  of  the  shadows. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  negatives  taken  with  a weak  sil- 
ver bath,  or  under-exposed  ones.  As  no  one  is  likely  only  to 
have  to  do  with  perfect  negatives,  it  will  be  useful  to  know 
what  are  the  best  means  to  be  employed  in  order  to  improve 
imperfect  ones.  In  the  first  place,  as  usual,  a very  black  pen- 
cil must  be  used,  also  a brush  and  Indian  ink,  as  just  described, 
for  the  transparent  shadows.  Clean  the  back  very  well,  and 


14 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


pour  on  it,  in  the  same  manner  as 

if  collodionizing  a plate,  the 

following  solution : 

Gum  sandarac,  - 

30  parts. 

Gum  mastic, 

- 30  “ 

Sulphuric  ether,  - 

500  “ 

Pure  benzole,  from  - 

- 150  to  400  “ 

The  quality  of  the  texture  thus  obtained  depends  on  the  quan- 
tity of  benzole  added.  When  dry,  this  should  give  an  even 
white  surface,  almost  like  very  fine  ground  glass,  on  which  the 
pencil  will  work  beautifully,  and  the  touching,  done  with 
great  discretion  on  the  back  of  the  negative,  gives  a very  soft 
appearance  to  the  prints.  A finer  work  will  be  done  on  the 
parts  which  it  has  been  impossible  to  finish  on  the  collodion 
side.  Thus,  in  places  that  are  too  transparent — in  the  hair,  for 
instance,  or  the  beard — put  in  a few  lights  ; under  the  eyes  and 
nose  soften  the  shadows,  which  are  always  too  strong  in  that 
part  of  the  negative ; and  if  the  forehead,  the  cheek,  and  the 
lighted  side  be  too  dense,  with  a penknife  scratch  the  varnish 
at  these  places,  so  that  they  may  print  through  quicker,  taking 
care  to  leave  soft  edges  to  avoid  hardness  in  printing,  which  is 
easily  done  by  cutting  the  outlines  into  indentures  unequally 
pinked.  By  these  means  it  will  be  easy  to  improve  bad  nega- 
tives, but  the  density  will  be  then  greater.  The  lighting  of 
the  clothing  must  now  be  proceeded  with.  All  the  parts 
requiring  lighting  must  be  gone  over  with  a stump  dipped  in 
lead  powder,  following  all  the  folds  of  the  drapery,  etc.,  apply- 
ing the  end  of  the  stump  to  the  middle  of  the  part  to  be  lit, 
and  then  softening  off  the  edges  with  another  larger  and  clean 
stump.  This  part  of  the  work  may  also  be  done  with  a brush 
moistened  with  Indian  ink.  The  results  thus  obtained  are  the 
same ; therefore,  the  retoucher  can  choose  whichever  method 
he  prefers. 

Sometimes  the  white  varnish  does  not  give  the  required 
opacity ; if  so,  the  same  varnish,  to  which  add  a few  drops  of 
a solution  of  iodipe  in  alcohol,  may  be  used.  This  will  give  a 
more  or  less  yellow  film,  through  which  the  light  will  pass 
slowly.  Retouching  can  be  done  on  this  surface  either  by 


HOW  TO  RETOUCH. 


15 


means  of  a stump  or  brush ; if  the  latter,  the  tint  of  the 
Indian  ink  may  be  softened  down  by  tapping  it  with  the  end 
of  a finger.  These  two  varnisbes  are  very  hard  and  solid 
when  dry. 

Some  work  may  be  done  with  the  pencil  on  the  neck, 
shoulders,  arms,  and  hands ; but  none  of  the  lines  of  muscles 
should  be  touched.  If  these  parts  are  too  flat,  they  may  be 
strengthened  in  the  way  previously  described. 

Any  little  spots  or  holes  in  the  negative  should  be  touched 
with  Indian  ink  or  light  blue.  It  will  be  easily  understood 
how  useful  this  kind  of  touching  may  be  when  well  done,  as 
by  means  of  it  passable,  or  even  bad  negatives,  may  be  made 
to  give  almost  perfect  prints. 

Another  way  of  giving  a good  effect  to  a negative  is  to  dis- 
solve some  red  aniline  dye  (fuchsine)  in  alcohol ; add  a few 
drops  of  this,  according  to  the  strength  of  tint  desired,  to  a 
plain  collodion  ; pour  this  on  the  back  of  the  negative,  remov- 
ing it  with  a knife  from  the  parts  to  be  kept  transparent. 
This  method  is  not  so  good  as  the  two  varnishes  previously 
described,  because  the  surface  is  too  tender  to  be  worked  upon 
by  brush  or  pencil,  and  very  apt  to  become  scratched  or  rubbed 
off  in  printing.  However,  it  may  be  used  to  get  a consider- 
able density  on  a very  thin  negative.  In  this  case  the  back  of 
the  negative  is  covered  with  a layer  of  the  solution,  and  when 
it  is  dry  remove  it  from  the  most  opaque  portions,  and  varnish 
all  over  with  benzole  varnish,  which  will  solidify  the  other 
and  give  a good  surface  for  touching  either  with  stump  or 
brush. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

COPIES. 

Negatives  taken  from  old  faded  photographs  are  sometimes 
very  difficult  for  retouching.  Negatives  enlarged  from  photo- 
graphic cartes  always  have  a very  granular  and  bad  effect,  and 
this  is  inevitable,  being  the  texture  of  the  paper  in  the  origi- 
nal. The  best  thing  to  do  is  to  use  a retouching  varnish,  then 
work  with  a pencil  over  all  the  parts  that  will  take  it,  and 
finish  off  with  a brush. 

It  is  better  to  aim  at  general  effect  than  great  fineness  in 
touching,  for  it  will  be  found  impossible,  without  going  through 
very  long  and  complicated  work,  to  entirely  get  rid  of  the 
grain  of  the  paper.  Also,  the  retoucher  should  not  have  his 
eye  too  close  to  the  negative.  The  transparent  spots  must  be 
filled  in  by  means  of  very  fine  lines  drawn  in  the  direction  of 
the  spots ; then  put  in  the  lights  without  exaggerating  them, 
having,  if  possible,  the  original  at  hand  to  compare  with.  If 
the  negative  is  so  flat  that  neither  brush  nor  pencil  will  give 
the  desired  effect,  use  for  a last  operation  the  benzole  varnish 
as  previously  described. 

The  reproduction  of  daguerreotypes  is  less  difficult,  the 
negatives  being  free  from  all  texture ; and  as  the  polished  sil- 
ver plates  show  a very  bright  surface  to  the  light,  there  will 
only  be  the  modeling  and  general  softening  to  be  done.  But 
sometimes  the  figure  does  not  stand  out  well  from  the  back- 
ground. In  this  case  the  reproduced  negative  would  be  very 
much  better,  giving  greater  contrasts. 

If  the  background  is  too  dark,  and  it  is  thought  desirable  to 
lighten  it,  coat  the  back  of  the  negative  with  a white  or  yellow 
varnish,  leave  it  to  evaporate  for  an  instant,  and,  Before  it  is 


COPIES. 


17 


quite  dry,  run  a line  with  a penknife  all  round  the  figure,  from 
which  remove  the  varnish,  only  leaving  it  on  the  background, 
which  will  then  print  much  lighter.  In  removing  the  varnish, 
it  must  he  remembered  that  it  is  better  to  leave  a little  line 
behind  the  figure  than  to  scrape  away  too  much.  If  it  is  only 
found  necessary  to  lighten  one  side  of  the  background,  use 
benzole  varnish,  and  then  the  stump,  on  the  place  wanted, 
taking  care  to  soften  the  edge  well  by  rubbing  with  the  finger 
or  cotton  wool. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  a white  background  has  to  be  changed 
into  a black  one,  or  any  ugly  accessories  have  to  be  removed, 
proceed  as  follows : Put  the  negative  on  the  touching  easel, 
and,  with  a needle  stuck  into  a piece  of  wood,  follow  the  out- 
line of  the  figure  with  great  precision,  scratching  through  the 
collodion  film.  In  this  operation  the  line  should  rather  im- 
pinge upon  the  background  than  upon  the  figure.  If  the  face 
is  turned  profile  or  three-quarter  face,  the  operation  is  very 
delicate,  and  wants  the  greatest  attention.  The  safest  way 
will  be  to  have  the  arm  very  firmly  supported.  In  going 
round  the  hair  will  be  scratched  into  indentures  as  fine  as  pos- 
sible ; for  the  drapery,  etc.,  less  delicate  work  is  required. 
When  the  needle  has  been  all  round  the  edges,  take  a rather 
thicker  point,  and  enlarge  the  line  drawn  by  the  needle.  It 
will  then  be  easier  and  quicker  to  remove  all  the  rest  of  the 
background  with  a penknife.  If  this  can  be  done  on  the  col- 
lodion only,  the  surface,  being  soft,  will  take  much  less  time, 
and  the  negative  can  afterwards  be  varnished  in  the  usual  way. 
If  it  has  been  done  on  a varnished  surface,  the  rest  of  the  film 
must  be  cleaned  off  with  a few  drops  of  alcohol  rubbed  on 
with  some  silver  paper.  This  done,  the  whole  line  must  be 
softened,  as  the  needle  will  have  left  a hard,  sharp  line.  With 
a fine  brush  and  Indian  ink  stipple  lightly  all  round,  doing  it 
with  the  point  of  the  brush,  and  leaving  a tiny  space  between 
each  touch.  This  work  must  be  done  finer  and  closer  as  it 
approaches  the  face,  and  requires  as  much  care  as  the  scratch- 
ing with  the  needle,  as  it  is  to  this  stippling  that  will  be  due  a 
softness  of  outline  in  the  prints  which  will  make  them  resemble 
those  done  with  a natural  background.  The  back  of  the  nega- 


18 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


tive  is  then  covered  with  either  a white  or  a red  varnish,  ac- 
cording to  the  effect  wished  for.  One  of  these  varnishes 
should  always  be  used  to  soften  the  outline,  and  make  the 
background  less  hard. 

Another  way  of  getting  black  backgrounds  is  the  following : 
Cover  the  whole  of  the  background  with  a deep  yellow  color 
mixed  with  a little  glycerine,  having  first  of  all  with  a brush 
drawn  round  the  outline  of  the  figure,  and  let  dry.  Print  a 
copy  of  this,  of  which  the  background  will  be  quite  white ; 
then  cut  out  from  it  the  figure,  which  is  used  as  a mask  by 
laying  it  on  the  negative  while  the  background  goes  on 
printing.  This  is  not  so  good  a way  as  the  other.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  not  easy  to  paint  the  line  of  demarcation  per- 
fectly ; and  then,  being  obliged  to  mask  each  print,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  get  all  the  prints  alike. 

An  intelligent  artist,  who,  after  a little  practice,  is  able  to 
utilize  these  various  simple  methods,  will  be  surprised  at  the 
results  he  gets.  Besides,  what  I have  said  about  copies  in  par- 
ticular, applies  equally  to  all  bad  negatives.  There  are  times 
when  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  be  able  to  render,  by  means 
of  one  of  these  methods,  if  not  perfect,  at  least  satisfactory,  a 
negative  which  would  have  been  judged  unable  to  give  a toler- 
able print,  even  submitting  it  in  printing  to  the  most  compli- 
cated manipulations. 


CHAPTER  YI. 


POSITIVES. 

Positives  that  are  taken  in.  order  to  get  enlarged  negatives 
from  are  sometimes  imperfect ; it  is  advisable  to  give  them  some 
retouching  which  would  give  great  facility  for  obtaining  large 
negatives.  If,  for  example,  there  was  a scratch  on  the  collo- 
dion of  the  small  negative,  and  that  had  been  touched  out 
with  too  opaque  a color,  that  would  make  a white  place  on 
the  positive.  In  the  same  way  a very  hard  negative  would 
give,  in  the  positive,  faces  too  white,  and  drapery,  etc.,  too 
black. 

The  work  is  done  the  same  as  in  a negative,  only  in  a 
reversed  way,  as  if  one  were  touching  a print ; the  mark  of 
the  touching,  whether  done  by  brush  or  pencil,  tending  to 
hinder  the  light  going  through  in  the  spot.  When  a positive 
is  being  taken,  the  parts  not  receiving  light  remain  perfectly 
white — that  is  to  say,  transparent ; in  copying  this  positive,  all 
these  transparent  places  are  at  once  penetrated  by  the  light,  so 
that  all  effects  existing  in  the  original  negative  will  be  exactly 
reproduced  in  the  enlargement.  It  will,  then,  be  easily  under- 
stood that  by  touching  on  all  these  transparent  places  on  the 
positive,  the  defect  will  be  got  rid  of  as  it  will  be  wanted — 
defects,  besides,  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  remove  on 
the  enlargement.  It  is  only  under  these  circumstances  that  I 
advise  retouching  on  the  positive ; because,  if  the  original 
negative  is  perfect,  and  also  the  positive  from  it,  no  touching 
will  be  required. 

It  is  even  better  not  to  touch  a small  negative  that  is  going 
to  be  enlarged,  but  to  do  it  all  on  the  enlargement,  that  being 
easier  and  quicker.  If  the  positive  requires  much  touching, 


20 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


it  is  best  done  on  gum.  The  negative,  when  fixed  and 
washed,  is  covered  with  the  following  solution : 

Gum  arabic,  - - - 6 parts. 

Water,  - 100  “ 

If  the  positive  is  to  be  kept,  it  is  better  not  tb  gum  it,  but 
varnish  with  a retouching  varnish.  I should  not  advise  to 
use  hard  varnish.  As  there  comes  sometimes  a sharp  line  of 
demarcation  where  the  brush  stops,  this  line  is  never  visible 
on  the  prints  and  is  hardly  seen  on  the  small  negative ; but  on 
the  enlargement  it  might  show  very  much,  and  necessitate 
much  labor  in  touching  out.  Still  less  should  emery  powder 
or  cuttle-fish  be  used,  which  always  give  lines ; all  these 
means  will  be  in  this  case  completely  eliminated. 

The  touching  should  be  done  with  great  moderation.  The 
half  tones  required  must  be  put  in  on  the  positive,  leaving 
intact  those  parts  which  have  been  touched  on  the  negative. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  negative  is  worked  for  ob- 
taining the  lights,  and  the  positive  for  obtaining  the  shadows — 
that  in  the  latter,  in  short,  the  effect  is  direct;  the  wTork  will 
be,  consequently,  easier,  as  every  touch  shows  the  produced 
effect.  The  touches  should  be  a little  less  deep  in  tone  than 
the  negative. 

Among  all  the  methods  that  I have  described  for  the  im- 
provement of  negatives,  the  retoucher  will  select  the  one  whicli 
appears  to  suit  him  best. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ENLARGEMENTS. 

It  has  not  always  been  usual  to  touch  enlarged  negatives, 
and  each  print  had  to  undergo  a long  and  tedious  operation, 
which,  after  all,  very  often  gave  but  poor  results.  Besides,  the 
color  of  the  touches  always  remained  the  same,  and  as  silver 
prints  sooner  or  later  always  fade  or  turn  yellow,  the  results 
were  very  bad.  It  will  be  found  always  best  to  do  the  touch- 
ing on  the  negative. 

The  best  negatives  for  this  kind  of  work  are  very  thin  and 
transparent  ones;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  much  better  to  have  an 
under-exposed  negative,  provided  it  is  not  hard,  than  one  full 
of  detail,  but  fogged  by  over-exposure. 

Either  gum  or  varnish  can  be  used.  The  retouching  should 
be  done  boldly  with  long  lines,  endeavoring  to  give  an  even 
surface,  without  at  first  going  too  much  into  the  modeling. 
The  shadows  should  be  carefully  kept,  only  going  over  the  too 
transparent  spots  which  are  reproduced  from  the  small  nega- 
tive. In  an  enlargement  from  a small  photograph,  the  texture 
coming  from  the  original  must  be  eliminated  by  means  of  the 
pencil  or  the  brush.  Some  touches  largely  done  with  a big 
pencil  will  draw  some  lights  in  the  hair,  the  outline  of  the 
eyes  will  be  sharpened,  the  pupil  rounded,  the  lips  accented — 
in  fine,  the  lights  will  be  put  in  ; but  in  this  case  it  will  be 
better  not  to  work  in  the  same  way  for  these  large  negatives 
as  it  is  usually  done  for  the  small  ones.  It  w'ould  take  a very 
long  time  to  produce  the  necessary  effect  by  means  of  the  pen- 
cil alone.  The  best  way  will  be  as  follows : Take  a sheet  of 
very  fine  tracing  paper,  or  papier  vegetal,  damp  it  with  a 


22 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


sponge,  and  having  run  a line  of  gum  round  the  back  of  the 
negative,  stick  the  paper  to  it  and  let  it  dry.  When  dry,  the 
paper  should  be  perfectly  flat  and  smooth,  and  will  give  an 
excellent  surface  for  touching  on.  Proceed  to  touch  as  on 
ordinary  negatives,  with  the  stump  and  black-lead  powder, 
softening  down  the  hard  shadows,  taking  care  always  to  keep 
the  half  tones.  This  can  all  be  done  in  a few  minutes  by  a 
practiced  retoucher,  and,  as  it  is  not  difficult  to  do,  only  requires 
a little  habit  and  taste. 

The  lighting  of  drapery  is  done  in  the  same  way,  the  lines 
of  the  folds  strengthened  always  keeping  a gradation  of  tones. 
The  shadows  should  be  left  as  much  as  possible  alone,  as  very 
little  retouching  is  necessary  on  them.  When  the  negative  is 
transparent,  and  not  much  intensified,  the  tracing  paper  alone 
softens  it  very  much.  It  will  be  seen  that  I here  recommend 
what  for  small  negatives  I advised  should  not  be  done.  The 
greatest  pains  should  be  taken  to  get  small  negatives  that 
require  as  little  touching  as  possible,  because  work  that  is  done 
on  the  back  of  the  glass  gives  to  small  prints  a soft  and  mealy 
appearance,  which  is  very  unpleasant.  But  when  we  come  to 
enlargements  however  good  the  negative  is,  there  are  always 
portions  of  it  that  require  some  touching — either  lights  that 
are  not  light  enough,  or  shadows  that  are  too  hard,  according 
to  the  value  of  the  original.  It  is,  therefore,  much  better  to 
have  to  correct  parts  that  are  too  transparent,  rather  than  those 
which  are  too  opaque,  and  the  thickness  of  the  glass  is  not 
appreciable  in  large  negatives,  and  touching  can  be  done  on 
both  sides  of  the  glass  without  any  loss  of  sharpness  and  vigor 
being  apparent  in  the  print. 

The  benzole  varnish  may  be  used  instead  of  tissue  paper, 
especially  if  the  glass  on  which  the  negative  is  taken  is  not  , 
quite  flat,  and  worked  on  in  the  same  way  with  a stump.  The 
effect  may  be  judged  of  by  looking  through  the  negative  wdtli 
the  collodion  side  toward  the  eye. 

Both  sides  may  be  varnished,  if  required,  with  benzole  var- 
nish, as  the  touching  is  more  easily  done  on  this  ground  sur- 
face, and  a greater  softness  is  produced. 

There  is  also  a plan,  which  has  been  much  talked  of  lately, 


ENLARGEMENTS. 


23 


of  putting  tissue  paper  on  both  sides  of  the  negative,  and 
working  on  both  the  papers. 

Each  of  these  methods  will  be  found  successful,  provided 
the  negative  is  thin.  Its  density  should  determine  which  plan 
is  to  be  followed — in  fact  it  is  a good  way  to  decide  beforehand 
that  the  negative  shall  only  give  the  dark  shadows  and  half 
tones ; that  the  varnish  or  tissue  paper  shall  give  the  whites ; 
that  the  stump  or  pencil  shall  give  the  highest  lights.  The 
result  will  thus  be  obtained  in  a far  simpler  and  better  way. 

But  where  there  are  large,  hard  negatives,  neither  of  these 
methods  is  feasible.  They  must  be  treated  as  I have  recom- 
mended that  hard  negatives  should  be.  The  whole  of  the 
print  will  not  be  so  harmonious,  though  obtained  with  greater 
difficulty ; for  I repeat  that  retouching  done  as  I have  de- 
scribed, and  on  special  kinds  of  negatives,  offers  no  difficulty, 
and  enables  one  to  get  an  excellent  print  even  from  a very 
small  and  very  bad  original. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


LANDSCAPES. 

In  landscapes  the  sky  is  very  often  not  light  enough ; ac- 
cording to  the  moment  when  the  negative  has  been  taken,  the 
detail  of  foliage  or  building  is  somewhat  lost  on  it,  while  a 
more  opaque  sky  would  improve  the  whole  and  give  more  re- 
lief. This  is  what  should  be  done  : After  the  negative  is  var- 
nished and  dry,  go  round  the  edge  of  all  the  picture  part, 
whether  foliage  or  buildings,  with  a brush  and  yellow  paint, 
taking  care  to  keep  all  the  details  without  covering  any  of 
them.  The  yellow  will  be  mixed  with  a little  gum  and  glycer- 
ine. When  the  outline  is  drawn,  cover  all  the  rest  with  a large 
brush.  The  same  thing  should  be  done  also  on  the  back,  so  as 
to  remedy  any  inequality  in  the  color  if  it  has  been  put  on  too 
thin.  Besides,  I advise  not  too  put  it  on  too  thick,  for  fear  of 
its  splitting  up,  and  carrying  away  the  collodion  film  with  it. 
Bates’  black  varnish*  can  also  be  used  for  this  purpose ; it  does 
not  crack,  even  when  exposed  to  the  sun.  The  following  for- 
mula is  also  very  good : 


Spirit  of  turpentine, 
Bitumen  of  Judea, 
Wax, 

Black, 


1,000  parts. 
100  “ 

40  “ 

20  “ 


Brushes  used  for  this  work  should  be  kept  in  a bottle  contain- 
ing a little  turpentine.  The  bottle  of  varnish  must  be  well 
corked  to  prevent  evaporation. 

\ 

* Since  the  text  above  was  written,  the  black  varnish  has  been,  in  America 
at  any  rate,  wholly  supplanted  by  Gihon’s  Opaque. 


LANDSCAPES. 


25 


A print  taken  from  a negative  treated  in  this  manner  will 
have  a perfectly  white  sky,  which  will  have  a hard  and  dis- 
agreeable effect ; it  mnst  be  tinted  afterward  in  printing,  taking 
care  to  keep  the  horizon  line  lighter  than  the  rest ; or  even 
some  clouds  may  be  printed  in  from  another  negative : the 
print  will  be  softer  and  the  effect  more  artistic.  It  is  also  pos- 
sible to  get  clouds  without  any  double  printing  by  putting 
tissue  paper  on  the  back  of  the  negative,  and  drawing  some 
clouds  on  it.  Some  transparent  parts  should  be  left  to  give 
effect.  Where  touches  have  been  put  on  too  dark,  they  are 
easily  removed  by  rubbing  with  a little  crumb  of  bread. 
This  does  not  require  very  fine  work;  the  thickness  of  the 
glass  will  soften  down  what  may  appear  too  coarse.  By  fol- 
lowing this  method  there  is  no  risk  of  spoiling  the  outlines, 
and,  what  is  of  great  importance  in  winter,  the  printing  does 
not  take  so  long.  Indian  ink  may  be  used  instead  of  the 
stump,  as  well  as  benzole  varnish  instead  of  tissue  paper. 

In  landscape  negatives,  as  well  as  in  other  negatives,  all  hard 
shadows  should  be  softened,  and  the  lights  strengthened ; but 
all  the  work  should  be  done  on  the  back  of  the  glass.  In  foli- 
age negatives  taken  with  a bright  sun,  the  nearest  trees  are 
often  wanting  in  detail,  while  the  more  distant  ones  are  quite 
sharp.  Prints  from  these  negatives  have  an  unpleasant  effect, 
the  different  lines  of  distances  being  too  distinctly  marked ; 
this  may  be  improved  by  touching  with  a brush,  not  too 
pointed,  and  Indian  ink  or  blue,  representing  some  leaves  ac- 
cording to  the  lights  which  are  already  indicated.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  distinguish  the  trees  retouched  in  that  way  from  the 
others  finely  obtained  on  the  negative. 

Finally,  if  there  any  strong  lights  to  be  put  on  negatives 
for  obtaining  effects  of  snow,  it  is  best  done  on  the  back  of 
the  negative,  either  on  tissue  paper  or  white  varnish. 

The  same  thing  may  be  done  in  negatives  of  clouds  which 
are  sharply  lighted  by  sunlight.  If  the  shadows  are  too  trans- 
parent, and  the  lights  too  hard,  put  in  some  half  tones,  and 
remove  the  varnish  from  the  lights.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the 
light  parts  are  weak,  strengthen  them  either  with  a stump  or 
brush,  and  remove  the  varnish  from  the  shadows.  For  posi- 


26 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


tives  and  enlargements  the  same  work  has  to  be  done,  and 
always  in  the  same  way. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  in  the  art  of  retouching  negatives 
it  is  only  in  the  first  step  that  any  difficulty  is  to  be  met  with, 
because,  being  the  most  important,  all  the  rest  follows  from 
it,  and  is,  so  to  speak,  only  the  same  thing  differently  applied. 
Therefore,  with  the  knowledge  of  these  few  various  methods, 
and  a little  taste  and  use,  one  may  always  be  certain  of  get- 
ting good  results. 


PART  SECOND. 


THE  ENGLISH  METHOD  OF  RETOUCHING 

Haying  in  tlie  foregoing  pages  given  what  may  be  termed 
the  French  or  Paris  style  of  retouching,  as  practiced  by  M. 
Piquepe,  we  next  proceed  to  give  the  English  or  London 
method,  as  described  in  the  British  Journal  of  Photography , 
and  which  differs  in  no  material  respect  from  that  practiced 
in  Hew  York. 


' 


• , 


, 


OHAPTEK  IX. 


PREPARING  THE  NEGATIVE  FOR  RETOUCHING. 

The  first  and  most  important  operation,  to  be  carried  ont,  is 
to  prepare  the  surface  of  the  negative  so  as  to  enable  the  pencil 
to  bite.  There  are  two  methods  of  doing  this,  either  of  which 
may  be  made  use  of.  The  first  is  to  roughen  the  varnish  by  an 
abrasive  powder — finely  powdered  pumice  stone,  such  as  is  to 
be  purchased  at  many  drug  stores,  being  most  preferred. 
It  is  important  that  the  right  material  be  purchased,  there 
being  a coarser  and  rougher  kind  made  for  the  use  of  cabinet 
makers,  which  is  quite  unsuitable  and  would  scratch  the  nega- 
tive. It  is  employed  by  putting  a pinch,  or  dusting  a small 
quantity  out  of  a muslin  bag  upon  the  place  to  be  worked 
upon,  and  then  rubbing  it  with  the  end  of  the  finger  with  a 
circular  motion  till  the  surface  is  deadened,  and  a tooth  like 
fine  ground  glass  is  given.  The  entire  absence  of  gritty  par- 
ticles must  be  insured  or  minute  scratches  which  would  ruin  a 
face  would  be  the  result.  This  method  enables  the  greatest 
amount  of  opacity  to  be  produced  by  the  lead  laid  on,  and 
hence  is  best  for  those  negatives  where  large  masses  of  bare 
glass  have  to  be  covered. 

The  second  method  to  be  described  may  be  used  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases,  and  the  abrasive  method  only  occasionally,  or 
the  latter  may  be  made  use  of  entirely.  W e recommend  the 
second  method,  with  the  very  occasional  employment  of  the 
other.  The  formula  for  the  composition  to  be  used  is  gum 
dammar,  20  grains;  Venice  turpentine,  5 grains;  turpentine, 
1 ounce.  The  gum  is  to  be  powdered  and  the  mixture  well 
agitated  for  a few  minutes  ; it  will  then  dissolve  quickly,  and 
the  Venice  turpentine  will  easily  liquefy  and  mix  with  a little 


30 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


shaking.  If  any  difficulty  is  experienced  in  getting  true  Y enice 
turpentine  it  may  be  replaced  by  one-half  of  its  weight  of  or- 
dinary black  rosin.  A drop  of  the  solution  is  placed  upon  a 
small  pledget  of  cotton  wool,  and  nibbed  for  a moment  over 
the  surface  to  be  worked  upon  so  as  to  leave  a mere  visible 
trace  behind  (if  too  much  be  put  on  the  surface  will  be  too 
sticky  or  tacky).  The  negative  is  placed  aside  for  a few  min- 
utes and  is  then  ready  for  use,  and  a number  of  negatives  may 
be  done  one  after  another  so  as  to  save  time.  A score  of  them 
may  be  treated  in  a couple  of  minutes,  while  with  the  pumice 
stone  process  each  negative  occupies  perhaps  half  a minute  or 
more — a length  of  time  which  when  many  require  to  be  treated 
becomes  a serious  item. 

An  important  point  to  be  considered  with  regard  to  this 
treatment  is : Does  it  injure  the  negative  or  render  it  liable  to 
crack  ? The  infinitesimally  small  quantity  of  gum  left  behind 
after  the  rubbing  is  not  likely  to  harm  any  varnished  surface, 
but  to  render  the  matter  entirely  free  from  doubt  we 
have  made  inquiries  among  professional  photographers  who 
have  employed  the  plan,  and  we  have  ascertained  that,  at  any 
rate  in  five  years,  which  was  the  oldest  case  we  could  trace,  no 
harm  whatever  had  occurred  to  the  negative.  Hence  we  may 
safely  subject  the  most  valuable  negative  to  the  process  without 
any  fear  of  danger. 

Some  retouchers  make  a special  varnish  which  requires  no 
after  treatment  to  enable  the  pencil  to  bite,  but  our  experience 
of  such  is  not  favorable.  We  do  not  consider  them  likely  to 
be  so  durable  as  other  well  known,  recognized  negative  var- 
nishes, and  the  saving  of  time  is  so  very  slight  that  it  does  not 
conterbalance  the  inconvenience  of  having  two  kinds  in  use — 
one  for  negatives  to  be  retouched  and  one  for  ordinary  work — 
and  they  possess  no  other  advantage  over  the  methods  we 
recommend. 

W e know  one  gentleman  who  possesses  a touch  so  fine  that 
he  is  able  to  retouch  upon  the  dried  film  of  an  unvarnished 
negative,  and  we  have  seen  one  of  a group  where  a large  num- 
ber of  faces  were  so  retouched  by  him  ; but  this  is  a mere  tcmr 
de  force , not  to  be  attempted  in  ordinary  practice,  and  only 


PREPARING  THE  NEGATIVE  FOR  RETOUCHING.  31 

made  use  of  by  the  artist  in  question  under  unusual  circum- 
stances. 

We  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject  by  describing  a method 
suitable  for  occasional  employment  by  any  one  who  wishes  to 
improve  a negative  and  has  no  special  materials  at  hand.  It  is 
simply  to  dilute  ordinary  negative  varnish  with  about  an  equal 
paid  of  alcohol,  pour  on  the  negative  cold,  and  allow  to  dry 
spontaneously.  If  the  right  proportion  of  alcohol  be  employed  a 
surface  of  the  most  exquisite  delicacy  is  obtained,  but  of  rather 
too  fragile  a nature  for  ordinary  workers.  It  possesses  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  withstand  a second  coat  of  varnish 
applied  with  heat  in  the  ordinary  manner,  and  thus  secures  the 
retouching  from  all  danger,  with  even  the  utmost  amount  of 
hard  printing.  On  this  latter  account  it  may,  at  times,  be  of 
great  usefulness,  the  other  methods  not  allowing  of  any  fixing  of 
the  penciling  beyond  that  of  mere  surface  nature,  and  for  this 
reason  we  may  give  a little  more  fullness  of  details,  the  gen- 
tleman who  communicated  them  to  us  informing  us  that  he 
employed  this  method  for  one  or  two  years,  and  liked  the  sur- 
face better  than  any  he  had  ever  worked  upon  previously. 

The  great  point  is  to  have  the  varnish  diluted  to  the  exact 
strength,  and  this  can  only  be  found  by  experiment.  If  too 
strong  the  varnish  dries  too  bright ; if  too  weak  it  leaves  a dead 
and  rotten  surface,  easily  scratched,  and  taking  too  great  a hold 
of  the  black-lead.  Further,  when  a negative  is  under-exposed 
or  forced  in  the  development  the  film  has  a different  texture 
and  requires  a modification  of  the  varnish,  greater  strength 
being  then  needed.  Instead  of  thickening  the  varnish  a second 
coating — always  cold — will  almost,  but  not  quite,  answer  as 
well. 

The  drawbacks  to  this  process  are  the  nicety  required  in  ad- 
justing the  strength  of  the  varnish  and  the  great  tenderness, 
even  at  its  best,  of  the  surface,  which  should  be  exactly  analo- 
gous to  the  gloss  of  an  egg-shell,  and  is  most  beautiful  to 
work  upon  but  for  one  defect,  a special  pencil  being  necessary. 

Keeping  to  the  mechanical  aspect  of  the  subject,  we  may 
now  describe  the  pencils  to  be  used — the  great  desideratum 
being  one  with  a tough  texture,  and  capable  of  taking  a fine, 


32 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


hard  point.  Such  a one  is  the  best  octagonal  black-lead  pencils 
of  Faber,  which  in  contrast  with  many  are,  as  a retoucher  once 
observed  to  us,  “ almost  capable  of  doing  the  retouching  them- 
selves.” 

It  is  desirable  to  have  three  or  four  different  degrees  of 
hardness  of  pencil  so  as  to  suit  every  class  of  work,  the  HH, 
H,  F and  HB  being  the  most  suitable.  The  H is  for  general 
work ; the  HH  (the  hardest  of  the  four)  for  very  fine  and 
delicate  execution  and  where  little  labor  is  required.  The 
F and  HB  are  suitable  for  heavier  penciling  when  the  shadows 
are  heavy  and  considerable  opacity  is  needed.  It  is  customary 
to  point  them  in  a manner  quite  different  from  what  one  is 
usually  accustomed  to  do.  The  lead  is  laid  bare  to  the  extent 
of  almost  an  inch,  and  a more  or  less  fine  point  given  to  it, 
according  to  the  negative  under  treatment. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  EASEL  AND  LIGHTING. 

Haying  now  arrived  at  our  surface  for  penciling  upon  and 
our  pencils  for  working  with,  it  is  time  to  describe  the  stand 
for  bolding  the  negative,  usually  called  a “ retouching  easel.” 
All  that  is  needed  is  a sloping  hoard  with  a central  aperture, 
and  sustained  at  a proper  angle  by  a leg  or  strut  From  this, 
as  a beginning,  are  built  with  greater  or  less  convenience  and 
variety  of  adjustments  all  the  more  expensive  and  elaborate 
stands.  Some  contrivance  is  required  to  keep  negatives  of 
various  sizes  in  their  places,  which  is  often  done  by  a series  of 
frames  fitting  one  into  the  other.  The  simplest  and,  we  think, 
the  best  arrangement  of  the  kind  we  are  acquainted  with  is 
formed  by  means  of  a slight  bar  placed  across  the  whole  width 
of  the  stand,  with  grooved  side  pieces  attached  to  clip  the 
stand  and  retain  the  bar  in  its  place.  The  bar  is  thus  movable 
upwards  and  downwards,  and  clamped  by  the  simple  act  of 
drawing  one  end  a little  downwards,  and  so  tightening  its  hold 
upon  the  stand  by  means  of  the  groove.  It  is  also  necessary  to 
prevent  the  negative  from  receiving  any  light  upon  its  upper 
(the  prepared)  surface,  and  this  may  be  done  by  suspending  a 
piece  of  black  velvet,  or  even  brown  paper,  over  a wire  or 
other  support  fastened  to  the  stand.  It  will  be  found  much 
better  not  to  make  this  easel  too  diminutive,  as  it  is  apt  to 
cramp  the  hands  if  sufficient  room  be  not  allowed. 

The  light  is  to  be  thrown  upon  the  negative  from  below,  and 
upon  its  due  modulation  depends  much  of  the  success  with 
which  the  negative  may  be  finished.  There  is  much  discrep- 
ancy of  opinion  among  retouchers  as  to  the  kind  of  light  to  be 
employed,  some  preferring  artificial,  and  others  not  caring  to 


34 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


work  at  all  if  they  cannot  have  daylight.  Very  possibly  the 
preference  for  artificial  light  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  so 
many  photographers  find  it  easier  to  work  at  their  negatives  when 
their  day’s  work  of  negative  producing,  etc.,  is  over,  and  they 
can  keep  to  their  pencil  without  interference,  there  being 
nothing  so  conducive  to  bad  and  uneven  work  as  frequent  in- 
terruption. When'  daylight  is  to  be  used  the  easel  must  be 
placed  in  front  of  a window  commanding  a view  of  the  sky, 
and  under  the  aperture  should  be  placed  a small  mirror  so  ar- 
ranged by  means  of  a little  packing  that  the  retoucher,  looking 
through  the  aperture,  can  see  reflected  in  the  mirror  the  sky 
in  front  of  him. 

For  some  negatives  it  is  sufficient  to  place  a piece  of  white 
paper  in  place  of  the  mirror,  while  most  others  will  require  a 
piece  of  obscured  glass,  placed  either  between  the  mirror  and 
the  sky  or  between  the  negative  and  the  mirror,  as  may  be 
found  most  convenient — taking  care,  if  the  latter  method  be 
adopted,  not  to  place  the  glass  too  close  behind  the  negative 
or  the  grained  surface  will  interfere  with  nicety  of  touch. 

Those  who  employ  artificial  light  generally  prefer  to  have  a 
slight  bine  tinge  imparted  to  it  to  soften  the  heating  and  ir- 
ritating effect  which  accompanies  the  flame  of  gas,  etc.  An  or- 
inary  kerosene  lamp  is  preferred  by  many,  but  we  find  a good 
fishtail  gas  burner,  fastened  to  a small  stand,  to  be  much  more 
handy  and  equally  useful — the  former,  of  course,  being  pre- 
ferred by  those  who  have  not  gas  connections  at  hand.  The 
blue  tinge  may  be  produced  by  procuring  an  ordinary  plain  bed- 
room water  bottle  and  filling  it  with  water,  and  throwing  into 
it  a brushful  of  indigo  color.  This,  placed  in  front  of  the  light, 
softens  and  cools  it  in  a most  pleasant  manner. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


RETOUCHING  DETAILS. 

The  negative  being  placed  on  the  frame,  as  described,  the 
light  should  be  regulated  according  to  its  density — the  greater 
the  density  of  the  negative  the  stronger  the  light  required — 
taking  care  always  to  use  the  lowest  degree  of  illumination  con- 
sistent with  the  complete  visibility  of  all  detail  and  half  tone.  If 
too  strong  a light  be  used  the  retouching  will  show  more  forcibly 
than  appears  in  the  negative,  and  would  ruin  its  delicacy.  The 
aperture  in  the  retouching  easel  should  not  be  too  large,  or 
there  will  be  a flood  of  light  running  into  the  eyes  that  will  not 
only  dazzle  and  tire  them,  but  render  the  lighter  and  more 
delicate  tones  invisible.  The  plan  we  adopt  is  to  have  a suf- 
ficiently large  aperture  to  see  the  greater  part  of  a carte  nega- 
tive, for  instance,  and  to  diminish  it  while  working  by  placing 
on  the  negative  a piece  of  black  card-board  in  which  a hole 
about  an  inch  in  diameter  has  been  cut  out.  The  pencil  is  to 
be  pointed  in  the  manner  described,  the  final  “ sharpening  ” 
being  best  given  by  a piece  of  emery  paper  or  cloth  not  too 
fine,  a little  care  being  necessary  to  avoid  breaking  the  long 
and  fine  point.  The  easiest  and  surest  mode  is  to  work  the 
point  by  repeated  strokes  away  from  the  body,  and  not  to  rub 
it  sideways  or  backward  and  forward.  This  hint  will  be  found 
very  useful,  as  the  breaking  of  half  an  inch  of  point  is  very 
irritating.  We  have  not  had  much  experience  with  “ ever- 
pointed  ” leads,  our  preference  being  for  the  ordinary  make 
of  black-lead. 

Our  mode  of  practice  is  to  take  out  of  faces  all  freckles  and 
marks,  blotches  of  unequal  color,  etc.,  first,  and  then  very  care- 
fully to  make  the  smallest  possible  amount  of  alteration  in 


36 


THE  MODERN  PRACTICE  OF  RETOUCHING. 


what  is  usually  termed  the  “ modeling  ” — that  is,  softening 
very  heavy  shadows  and  increasing  the  prominence  of  some  of 
the  leading  lights.  This  is  done  by  delicate  “ dabs  ” or  dots, 
so  to  speak,  with  the  point  of  the  pencil,  which  must  be  made 
of  the  right  intensity  at  once,  as  the  depth  cannot  be  increased 
by  successive  washes  of  color,  as  in  painting,  though  if  the  re- 
touching be  done  in  very  fine  dotting  or  stippling,  extra  depth 
may  be  got  by  carefully  filling  in  between  the  first  pencilings. 

The  terms  “stippling”  and  “hatching,”  as  they  are  often 
employed,  may  be  briefly  described  as  dotting  and  lining  re- 
spectively. When  there  are  transparent  parts  requiring  a con- 
siderable amount  of  intensity  given  to  them  it  will  be  found 
next  to  impossible  to  do  it  at  once,  and  then  the  only  plan  is  to 
make  the  first  retouching  upon  the  roughened  varnish  as  deep 
as  possible,  to  soften  by  the  aid  of  alcohol  vapor,  and  then  to 
heat  strongly.  This  will  fasten  the  retouching  and  allow 
another  coat  of  varnish,  quickly  applied,  to  be  given.  After 
the  spots  are  all  taken  out  by  stippling,  the  modeling  may  be 
done  by  hatching,  making  small  lines  only,  as  regular  in  size 
and  distance  apart  as  possible,  and  as  much  as  can  be  done 
causing  them  to  follow  the  lines  or  contours  of  the  features,  or 
those  particular  facial  developments  that  are  being  worked 
upon.  It  is  important  that  the  hatching  should  be  done  in  a 
regular  manner,  or  a very  scratchy  and  uneven  effect  will  be 
produced.  Great  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  crossing  the 
lines,  or  making  two  strokes  touching  one  another,  this  being 
a fertile  source  of  “lumpy”  or  “scratchy”  work,  as  it  is  forci- 
bly called. 

It  will  be  found  of  great  use,  if  not  an  actual  necessity,  to 
have  a magnifier  for  especially  delicate  work — not  to  be  made 
use  of  from  beginning  to  end,  but  merely  for  particular  por- 
tions of  the  work,  and  to  aid  a general  scanning  of  the  whole 
when  completed,  so  as  to  pick  out  any  unevenness  or  rough- 
ness. If  used  all  through  it  causes  the  work,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  to  be  less  real  and  flesh-like,  and,  we  may  almost  say, 
less  delicate.  The  glass  should  be  of  good  width,  so  that  both 
eyes  can  be  used,'  and  it  is  better  if  it  can  be  affixed  to  a per- 
manent support  which  will  hold  it  at  one  distance  from  the 


RETOUCHING  DETAILS.  37 

negative;  and  this  will  materially  lessen  the  fatigue  of  the 
eyes  in  using  it. 

The  hatching  may  be  suitably  begun  at  the  forehead  and 
finished  at  the  lower  part  of  the  face,  working  from  the  highest 
lights  to  the  shadows,  and  not  vice  versa.  We  do  not  intend 
to  enter  into  a description  of  the  anatomical  development  of 
the  face,  but,  instead,  we  say  go  to  nature.  Every  face  will 
impart  hints  as  to  the  leading  lights  and  shadows  under  varying 
modes  of  illumination.  A gentleman  who  was  one  of  the 
earliest  of  retouchers  in  this  country  used  to  make  a point  of 
scrutinizing  his  own  face  in  a mirror,  observing  the  disposition 
of  high  lights  and  shadows  under  every  possible  variety  of  il- 
lumination, and  he  recommends  the  method  still  as  being  bet- 
ter than  all  the  books  in  the  world.  To  the  younger  members 
of  the  profession  we,  apart  from  its  entire  desirability  from 
other  points  of  view,  strongly  recommend  a study  of  drawing ; 
the  benefit  would  be  great  in  many  ways. 

We  conclude  by  pointing  out  some  alterations  which  maybe 
made  or  avoided  with  advantage.  One  of  the  commonest 
faults  of  a photograph  is  the  stern  or  “ cross  ” expression  so 
frequently  seen,  which  is  caused  by  a too  strong  light,  or  it  is 
the  natural  expression  of  a face  at  rest.  One  of  the  chief  seats 
of  this  expression  is  between  the  eyebrows.  It  is  not  caused 
by  the  perpendicular  line  or  lines,  more  or  less  pronounced, 
always  seen  there  in  persons  somewhat  advanced  in  life,  but  is 
produced  by  the  contraction  of  the  eyebrow,  which  at  the  end 
nearest  the  nose  will  be  found,  when  under  this  expression,  to 
have  taken  an  angular  form,  and  produced  a decidedly  darker 
shadow  underneath  in  the  orbit.  If  the  corner  of  this  angle 
be  taken  off,  and  the  heavy,  dark  shadow  be  slightly  lessened, 
the  effect  at  times  is  almost  magical ; and  yet  any  one  can  see, 
by  looking  at  a retouched  negative,  that  very  few  retouchers 
are  aware  of  this  simple  expedient,  it  being  generally  thought 
that  the  upright  furrows  cause  the  frown. 

It  is  generally  advised  to  heighten  the  toning  of  the  eyelids. 
We  can  only  say,  except  to  such  experienced  artists  as  need  no 
advice  from  us,  “ do  not  touch  them,”  for  in  ninety-nine  cases 
out  of  a hundred  the  face  gets  spoiled  by  such  work.  That 


38 


THE  MODEEN  PEACTICE  OF  EETOUCHMG. 


portion  of  the  cheek  nearest  the  nose  should  be  most  carefully 
and  thoughtfully  done ; there  is  often  a delicate  shadow  which 
is  liable  to  be  taken  out  by  the  unskilled  retoucher  with  the  effect 
of  producing  a swelled  cheek.  The  line  often  found  running 
down  from  the  wings  of  the  nostrils  should  be  carefully  light- 
ened with  the  aid  of  the  knowledge  which  would  be  obtained 
by  a slight  study  of  the  artist’s  own  face  in  a mirror.  The 
difference  between  a smile  and  a sneer  is  caused  by  an  almost 
imperceptible  difference  in  the  shading  of  this  furrow  that  can- 
not be  conveyed  in  words. 

Finally,  there  is  the  corner  of  the  mouth,  where  much  may 
often  be  done  if  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  a smile  the  corner 
of  the  lip  is  slightly  turned  up,  and  with  a serious,  grave  or 
crying  expression  it  takes  an  opposite  direction.  The  hands 
may  often  be  improved  by  taking  out  the  swollen  veins  they 
frequently  present  in  the  photograph,  though  it  often  happens 
that  this  can  only  be  done  on  each  individual  print. 

We  believe  our  instructions,  if  attended  to,  will  be  found  to 
present  nearly  all  that  is  necessary  to  learn — beyond  what  experi- 
ence alone  will  teach — to  enable  any  person  to  become  a pro- 
ficient retoucher. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Utility  of  Retouching,  ------  5 

Retouching  Easel,  -------  7 

Pencils  and  Brushes,  - - - - - 7 

Magnifying  Glass,  Use  of  - - - - - 8,  36 

Preparing  the  Surface,  - 9 

Monckhoven’s  Retouching  Varnish,  - - - - 9 

Cold  Varnish  Unsuitable,  ------  10 

Retouching  Varnishes,  -------10 

Emery  Powder  in  Retouching,  11 

Cond'tion  of  Negative,  - - - - - - -12 

Specks — How  Removed,  - -----  12 

Wrinkles, - 13 

Shadows  Under  the  Eyes,  ------  13 

Improving  Bad  Negatives,  - - - - - -14 

Uses  of  Red  Aniline,  ______  15 

Old  Faded  Photographs,  - - - - - - 16 

Reproducing  Daguerreotypes,  16 

Removing  Accessories,  - - - - - - -17 

Positions  for  Producing  Enlarged  Negatives,  19 

Retouching  Enlarged  Negatives,  - - - - - 21 

Tracing  Paper — Its  Uses,  ------  21 

Drapery,  ---------22 

Landscapes  : Improving  the  Skies,  -----  24 

Cloud  Effects  in  Landscapes,  - - - - - - 25 

Obtaining  Effects  of  Snow,  ------  25 

Abrading  the  Surface  of  the  Negative,  - - - - - 29 

Venice  Turpentine,  Substitute  for,  -----  30 

Applying  Cold  Varnish,  - - - - - - -31 

Lighting  the  Negative,  ------  33 

Artificial  Light  for  Retouching,  - - - - - 34 

Retouching  Details,  -------35 

Modeling,  --------36 

Cross  Expression,  How  to  Cure,  -----  37 

Swollen  Veins  on  the  Hand,  - - - - - 38 


* 


FOR 

Photographic  Stock 

AND  APPARATUS, 

AMATEUR  OUTFITS, 

ARTISTS'  MATERIALS,  ETC., 

SEND  YOUR  ORDERS  TO  THE 

Mammoth  Stock  House 

— OF — 

W.  1?.  REID, 

352  & 354  EUCLID  AVENUE,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 


APPARATUS  OF  ALL  DESCRIPTIONS, 

ENTREKIN’S  ENAMELERS,  WESTON’S  BURNISHERS, 

MAGEE’S  NITRATE  SILVER  and  OTHER  CHEMICALS, 
PHOTO-CHROME  OUTFITS, 

CONVEX  GLASS,  Oval  and  Square,  Card  Size  to  10  x 12, 

WEBSTER’S  TRANSPARENT  WATER  COLORS, 

PARLOR  PASTE,  VELVET  FRAMES, 

SQUARE  AND  OVAL  WALNUT  FRAMES, 
MOLDINGS  AND  LININGS. 


SOLAS  PKIJfTINft. 


MANUFACTURER  OF 

REID’S  NEW  NEGATIVE  AND  FERROTYPE  COLLODION, 

REID’S  NEW  NEGATIVE  AND  FERROTYPE  VARNISH, 
REID’S  BRILLIANT  AND  EXTRA  BRILLIANT 

NON-BLISTERING  ALBUMEN  PAPER. 

NO  CHARGE  FOR  PACKING  BOXES.  “^2 

Write  for  Price  List.  Special  Prices  to  Large  Buyers  and  Cash  Customers. 

I 


E.  O.  ZIMMERMAN. 


C.  A.  ZIMMERMAN. 


ZIMMERMAN  BROS., 

DEALERS  IN 

Photographic^ 

-^-Supplies, 

ARTISTS’  MATERIALS, 


FRAMES, 


Views  and  Photographic 
Specialties. 

No.  9 West  Third  Street, 

ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 


II 


AND 


MOST  APPROVED  APPLIANCES 

IN  APPARATUS 


FOR  BOTH  WET  ART)  DRY  PLATE 


ARE  DESCRIBED  AND  ILLUSTRATED  IN  THE 


AMERICAN  OPTICAL  CO.’S 

HEW  CATALOGUE. 

The  demand  for  this  celebrated  Apparatus  is 
constantly  increasing,  making  the  struggle  unremit- 
ting to  keep  pace  with  orders.  Everywhere  on  the 
globe  the  American  Optical  Company’s  Apparatus 
is  used  and  its  popularity  assured,  because  of  ele- 
gance of  finish,  accuracy  and  endurance. 

Ask  your  supply  house  for  a copy  of  the  New 
Catalogue,  or  send  to  the 

SCOYILL  MANUFACTURING  CO. 


Ill 


W.  D.  GATCHEL  & CO., 

SUCCESSORS  TO  GATCHEL  & HYATT, 

LOUISVILLE,  IKZIT. 


We  carry  a full  line  of  all  goods  used  by 
Photographers, 


ACCESSORIES, 

Card  Stock,  Chemicals, 


&C.,  &C. 


Especial  attention  is  given  to  FRAMES  and 
VELVET  GOODS,  and  you  can  make  money  on 
them  if  you  buy  of  us.  Having  removed  to  a 
larger  store  we  have  increased  facilities  for  supplying 
all  the  demands  of  the  trade. 


OUR  PRICES. 

We  meet  all  honorable  competition,  and  our 
advantages  for  shipping  goods  are  not  excelled. 
Try  us  with  your  orders  and  we  will  give  you  satis- 
faction. 

W.  D.  GATCHEL  & CO., 

327  West  Jefferson  St.,  Louisville,  Ky. 

IV 


Photographers’ 

Card 

Warehouse. 


A.  M.  Collins,  Son  & Go., 

527  Arch  St.  A 522  Cherry  St., 

PHILADELPHIA, 

MANUFACTURE  ALL  KINDS  OF 

^MOUNTS^ 

REQUIRED  BY  PHOTOGRAPHERS. 


PRICE  LliTS  OUT  APPLICATION. 


v 


m JE 


Manufacturing  Opticians, 

No.  1016  CHESTNUT  ST., 

PHILADELPHIA. 


FOR  AMATEURS, 

AND  EVERY  DESCRIPTION  OF  APPARATUS  AND  ARTICLES 
NECESSARY  FOR  THE  PURPOSE 


SCOVILL  MANUFACTURING  CO.’S 

Outfits  and  Apparatus 

AT  LIST  PRICES. 
CARBUTT’S  KEYSTONE  DRY  PLATES. 
CARBUTT’S  DEVELOPING  LANTERNS 

Microscopes,  Telescopes, 
Opera  Glasses, 
Spectacles, 

Eye  Glasses,  &c. 


ILLUSTRATED  PRICE  LISTS  FREE  TO  ANY  ADDRESS. 


GEO.  J.  WOLF. 


J.  P.  CHEYNEY. 


WOLF  & CHEYNEY, 

Photographers’  Staples 

AND 

AST  SUPPLIES. 

821  Filbert  Street, 
Philadelphia,  Oct.  16th,  1882. 
Dear  Sir, 

We  are  prepared  to  supply  your 
wants  in  all  branches  of  Photo  Ma- 
terials, and  solicit  your  orders  for 
Apparatus,  Card  Stock,  Chemicals, 
Backgrounds,  Accessories,  Negative 
Glass,  Dry  Plates  and  all  their  fix- 
ings; also 

Photo.  Ware  of  all  Kinds. 

Guaranteeing  all  our  goods  to  be  of 
the  best,  and  hoping  for  a favorable 
reply, 

We  are, 

Very  truly  yours, 

WOLF  & CHEYNEY. 


VII 


John  G.  Hood. 


ESTABLISHED  1865. 


W.  D.  H.  Wilson. 


WILSON,  HOOD  & CO., 

IT o.  825  Arch  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA, 

SOLE  AGENTS  FOR 


ROSS  & STEINHEIL 


DROP  SHUTTER. 

Small  Size 9 $6,00. 
Larg&  “ H.OO. 


Any  article  used  by  Photographers  supplied. 
Catalogues  and  Estimates  Free  by  Kail. 

STEREOSCOPES  AND  VIEWS. 


RETOUCHING  FRAMES. 

American  Opt.  Co.’s,  8x10  & 11x14 
Moulton’s,  - - 8x10  & 11x14 

PENCILS, 

LEADS, 

BRUSHES, 
COLORS,  &c. 


VIII 


iO)Qu  art 


FOR 


PHOTOGRAPHIC 

*o\  MATERIALS 

$ 

' VvA  FRAMES 


— AND  — 


AGENTS 


OF  EVERY 


-FOR  THE 


“CELEBRATED” 


SHUTTER. 


Sent  by  Express  prepaid  on  re- 
ceipt of  Price. 


IX 


EASTERN 


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X 


34  BROMFIELB  ST.,  BOiTOZf,  MASS. 


WM.  H.  ALLEN. 


ORVILLE  C.  ALLEN. 


IMPORTERS  AND  JOBBERS  OF 


Photograph  jjaterials. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


Fine  Picture  prames 


AND  MATS, 


14  16  Uu‘ned  Street, 


DETROIT,  MICH. 


American  Optical  Co.’s  Apparatus  & Dry  Plate  Repisites. 


XI 


! 


NORTHWESTERN 

T 

— AND  — 

Cl}erqidkl  I^kEo^ktofy, 

11  GRAND  AVE.,  MILWAUKEE,  WIS. 


— A FULL  LINE  OF  — 


CHEMICALS  anil  APPARATUS  of  all  KMs. 


Special  attention  given  to  the  recovering  of  Gold  and  Silver  from 
Photo,  wastes.  Long  experience,  good  facilities 
and  quick  returns  insure  satisfaction. 

— GUSTA¥US  BODE.™ 

y 


XII 


RETOUCHING  MACHINE 


Patented  Nov.  18th,  1873. 


Our  patent  covers  all  motions  of  the  Negative  under  the  Pencil. 

IT  IS  THOROUGHLY  PRACTICAL 

for  all  kinds  of  work.  Everybody  should  have  one,  for  it  will 
save  its  cost  every  month  in  an  ordinary  gallery. 


Our  Stock  of  PHOTOGRAPHIC  GOODS,  FRAMES, 
MOLDINGS,  ALBUMS,  &c., 

is  complete  in  every  department.  Send  for  our  Illustrated 

Catalogues. 

H.  A,  HYATT, 

411  North  4th  Street , ST.  LOUTS,  MO. 


XIII 


IRON  CITY  STOCK  HOUSE, 

PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

HEADQUARTERS  FOR 

American  Optical  Co.’s  Apparatus, 

PHOTOGRAPHIC 

AND 

J FERROTYPE  MATERIALS  ~ 

OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION. 

ALSO, 

FRAMES,  MOLDINGS,  <£c., 

At  the  Lowest  Market  Rates. 

JOHN  I.  SHAW, 

Successor  to  JOHN  W.  MORRISON, 

10  & 12  Sixth  St.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


XIV 




| THE  BEEBE  DRY  PLATE,  |{ 

MANUFACTURED  BY 

The  Chicago  Dry  Plate  >nd  Ma^uf’g  Co., 

2228  INDIANA  AVENUE, 

CHICAGO. 


These  standard  Plates  have  reached  their  present  high  and 
enviable  reputation  from  the  fact  that  they  are  tested  daily,  in  the 
most  thorough  and  careful  manner,  by  Mr.  Beebe,  in  an  exacting 
and  critical  studio  practice. 

The  practical  every-day  photographer  will  find  his  wants  met 
by  this  plate. 


Note  Reduction. 

PRICE 

LIST. 

Note  Reduction. 

SIZE. 

PER  DOZ. 

SIZE. 

PER  DOZ. 

34x44  inches 

$0  65 

6£x  84  inches 

; $2  40 

4 x5 

a 

95 

8 xlO 

3 60 

44x54 

a 

1 00 

10  xl2 

5 20 

44x6| 

u 

1 25 

11  xl4 

6 80 

5 x6 

a 

1 35 

14  xl7 

10  00 

5 x7 

<< 

1 65 

17  x20 

17  50 

54x7 

a 

1 75 

18  x22 

20  00 

5 x8 

«< 

1 85 

20  x24 

24  00 

Complete  Formula  for  use  inclosed  in  each  Package. 


XV 


Photographic  Materials. 

/ / 

P.  SMITH  & M, 

CINCINNATI,  OHIO.  ^ COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

American  fjptical  (jo.’s  Apparatus, 

DRY  PLATES, 

ALL  BRANDS. 

FERROTYPE  PLATES  MD  SUPPLIES, 

Amateur  Photographic  Outfits , 

RETOUCHING  FRAMES, 

RETOUCHING  PENCILS. 


Everything  needed  in  the  Art  of  Photography  supplied  at 
1 lowest  prices. 


PHOTOGRAPHERS 


MICHIGAN,  i OHIO,  t INDIANA  * AND  * ONTARIO, 

ATTENTIONS'! 

HARRIS -at- DETROIT, 

BEING  THE  ONLY  EXCLUSIVE 

Photograph  Stock  Dealer  in  Michigan, 

ASKS  A SHAKE  OP  YOUR  TRADE. 

In  Apparatus,  the  Best  is  the  Cheapest. 

We  Handle  the  AMERICAN  OPTICAL  CO.’S  only. 

FOR  FRAMES, 

Hargrave  Manufacturing  Co.’s  are  the  Best.  Pattberg’s  Wets  are  the  Finest. 

We  have  all  the  Novelties  in 

Photo.  Apparatus,  Chairs,  Curtains,  &c. 
DRY  PLATE  OUTFITS,  &e. 

Bryant’s  Accessories.  Fried’s  Accessories. 

Helm’s  BaobLgroniicis, 

shown  at  Convention,  are  shipped  in  four  days  after  order  is  received. 
Send  for  Catalogue. 

ON  GROUND  FLOOR  AT 

No.  15  Grand  River  Avenue, 

ALBERT  K HARRIS.  DETROIT. 

Best  French  Glass,  6^x8-2-  and  8x10,  $4.00  per  box. 


XVII 


ESTABLISHED  IN  1850.*^ 


JOHN  H.  DALL, 

“Photographic  Stock  Depot,— 

618  & 620  Clay  Street, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL 

AMERICAN  OPTICAL  CO.’S 
CAMERAS  AND  APPARATUS, 


ALL  BRANDS. 

l^ttisiU  fott  flje  ^ofjpapfift!  aitd  ^rnaUttt, 
PRICE  LISTS  FREE. 


XVIII 


H.  LIEBER. 


ESTABLISHED  1854. 


CHAS.  KOEHNE. 


H.  LIEBER  & CO.’S 


HEADQUARTERS  FOR 

IjljotograpJjic  ^jtatmals  ||  Apparatus. 

ALL  THE  LEADING  BRANDS  OF 


JDJEtlZr  PLATES 


KEPT  IN  STOCK. 


— ALSO,  — 


Artists’  and  Wax  Materials, 

Picture  Frames,  Moldings, 

Looking-Glasses,  Etc. 


SEND  FOR  CATALOGUES. 


82  E.  Washington  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


XIX 


DAVID  TUCKER  & CO., 

DEALERS  IN 

Photographers’  Supplies, 


PICTURE  ERAIES,  I0LDIE&S, 

Velvet  and  Fancy  Frames, 


LBUMS , pTEF^EOSCOPES 


American  Optical  Co.’s  Apparatus, 


410  & 412  MAIN  STREET. 

B™i  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

xx 


Popular,  Pleasant  and  Profitable! 


GRANT  k BROWN 

13  Bromfield  St,,  Boston, 


i 


AGENTS  FOR  ALL  THE  POPULAR  MAKES  OF 

Sutfits  far  gmattars. 


INCLUDING  OUTFITS  OF  THE 


Scovill  Manufacturing  Company, 

AMERICAN  OPTICAL  COMPANY, 

ANTHONY’S  CAMERAS, 

WALKER’S  POCKET  CAMERAS, 

BLAIR  TOUROCRAPH  OUTFITS, 

And  all  Photographic  Novelties  soon  as  issued.  IVe  guarantee  success . 
PIP  All  needed  instruction  given  free.^JFfl) 

With  one  of  our  outfits  you  can  take  pictures  equal  to  the  professional,  of 
your  cottage,  yacht,  bits  of  landscape,  pets,  friends,  &c.,  &c.,  and  fill  your 
scrap-books  with  interesting  subjects. 

NO  FUMES!  NO  STAINS! 

No  better  educator  for  the  young  was  ever  devised  than  this  fascinating 
art.  It  encourages  habits  of  correct  observation,  elevates  the  taste,  and 
creates  a love  for  the  beautiful. 

Unsurpassed  for  the  tourist,  the  invalid,  ladies,  children,  business 
men,  artists,  &c. 

DRY  PLATES. 

Messrs.  Grant  & Brown  are  agents  for  the  sale  of  all  the  leading  makes 
of  Dry  Plates : Eastman’s,  Carbutt’s  Celebrated  Keystone  Plates, 
Richardson’s  Diamond  Plates,  Cramer  & Norden’s  Dry  Plates,  Blair 
Tourograph  and  Triumph  Plates  and  Winter  Plates, 

AT  LOWEST  PRICES. 

iSI^You  can  take  Instantaneous  Pictures  of  Moving  Objects. 

Also  in  stock  : Trays,  Chemicals,  Photographic  Books,  Printing  Frames, 
Printing  Papers,  Photographs,  Dry  Plate  Holders,  Card  Mounts,  and 
everything  necessary  for  the  Amateur. 

|f°We  cheerfully  answer  all  questions  and  willingly  exhibit  the  different 
outfits  and  process  of  taking  pictures,  whether  you  wish  to  purchase  or  not. 
Please  call  and  acquaint  yourself  with  this  most  charming,  useful  and  won- 
derful art. 

Sample  Pictures  on  Exhibition  and  for  Sale.  Also,  Pictures  Exchanged 
among  Amateurs.  Catalogues  and  Price  Lists  Free. 

GRJLETT  & BROWI, 

13  BROMFIELD  ST.,  BOSTON,  MASS, 


XXI 


ESTABLISHED  1874. 


Cer|tfctl  $todk  Hou^e. 

R.  H.  MORAN. 

Manufacturer  of  and  Dealer  in 

Fhotographi ? Materials, 

231  CENTRE  ST.,  N.  Y.  CITY. 

Agent  for  the  Manhattan  Dry  Plate  Co. 

SEND  YOUR  ADDRESS  FOR  ILLUSTRATED  PRICE  LISTS  AND 
MONTHLY  BARGAIN  LISTS. 

INDUCEMENTS  FOR  CASH  BUYERS! 

TRIAL  ORDER  SOLICITED. 

Everything  in  the  Trade  supplied  at  ROCK  BOTTOM 

PRICES. 

MORAN’S  SPECIALTIES! 

MORAN’S  COLLODION, 

MORAN’S  CHALLENGE  VARNISH, 

MORAN’S  CHLORIDE  OF  GOLD,  C.  P., 

MORAN’S  NITRATE  OF  SILVER,  C.  P. 


R 23  3YX  33  3VE  BBR 

I pay  the  very  highest  prices  (in  trade')  for  saleable  Lenses , Apparatus,  etc.,  that 
you  may  have  no  use  for  or  wish  to  exchange,  thus  enabling  you  to  make  use  of 
idle  capital . 


XXII. 


BE  GOOD  TO  YOURSELF 


A.  'JDsT  ID 


They  are  of  Uniform  Good  Quality 

RELIABLE, 

AND  OF  CORRECT  WEIGHT  AND  MEASURE. 
ASK  YOUR  DEALER  FOR  THEM. 

XXIII. 


1878,  Eagle  Stock  House.  1883. 


TO  PHOTOGRAPHERS. 

cj)  would  be  pleaSed  la  bear  flam  you, 
and  tan.  aSSute  all  that  aidelS  will  leceive  piamgt 
tale  and  attention. 

cJ  am  doing  buSmeSS  only  me  may,  viz. : 
STRAIGHT,  and  far  &aAh  at  @aSh  baSiS.  cJ 
am  ml  in  the  buSineSS  FOR  A DAY,  BUT 
FOR  ALL  TIME,  and  tabulate  la  Ml  jfbolag- 
taphetS  NOT  ONE  ORDER,  BUT  RIGHT 
ALONC- 

IN  FACT,  TO  CREATE  CUSTOMERS. 

Alices  fluctuate,  malkefS  change,  and  na 
pike  list  tepteSenlS  exact  pike.  Mine  ate  Sent 
to  any  am  tequeSling  them,  Subject  la  matkel 
changes.  Sargain  £iStS  published  flam  time  la 
time.  Slushing  la  hear  flam  the  llade, 

<J  am,  yautS  tluly, 

GEORGE  MURPHY, 

250  Mercer  Street,  New  York. 

1863  TO  1871  WITH  ANTHONY  & CO. 

1871  TO  1878  WITH  WM.  B.  HOLMES. 

1878,  AND  ALL  TIME,  EAGLE  STOCK  HOUSE. 

XXIV 


I.  PAXSON, 


|piroto0rajjlitcc 


BY  ELECTRIC  LIGHT, 

65  East  9th  Street, 


Second  Door  West  of  Broadwny, 


NEW  YORK. 


XXV 


STENGEL  & CO., 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 


ENGLISH,  VELVET  & DISPLAY 

Kif  I, 

Etc.,  Etc., 

No.  710  Broadway, 

Near  Fourth  Street.  NEW  YORK. 


Fine  Prints,  Water  Colors,  Etc.,  carefully  Mounted 


T ' ORDERS  RECEIVED  FOR  ABOVE  GOODS  BY  THE 

SCOVILL  MANUFACTURING  CO. 


XXVI 


SCHERING’S 

PYRODALLIC  ACID. 


WE  HAVE  A FRESH  STOCK  OF 

E.  SCHERING’S 

CELEBRATED 

German  Pyrogallic  Acid, 

m MALF  OZ.  AHO  Oi^E  QZ.  BOTTLES. 


THIS  ACID  IS  PRONOUNCED  BY  EXPERTS  TO  BE 

SUPERIOR  TO  ALL  OTHERS 

FOR 

DRY  PLATE  DEVELOPMENT. 


FOR  SALE,  WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL,  BY 

SCOVILL  MANUFACTURING  CO. 


XXVII 


PITTSBURGH,  PA., 


OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION, 


CARD  STOCK, 


APPARATUS, 


CHEMICALS,  Etc. 

XXVIII 


A.  VOGELEY, 

flat!  jjitte  and  jwdw, 

BEVELED  POLISHED  PLATE, 

MIRRORS,  &c., 

BY  HIS  IMPROVED  APPARATUS. 

Patented  Nov.  28,  1876,  and  April  17,  1877. 


A SPECIALTY: 
Bevel  and  Spare  Edge  Glass  Forms 

(ROUND  CORNER,  SQUARE  AND  ARCH)  FOR 

CARDS,  CABINETS,  PANELS, 

And  all  sizes  used  by  Photographei's. 

ALSO  ALL  SHAPES  AND  SIZES  OF  FORMS 

FOR 


FOE  SALE  BY  ALL  STOCK  DEALEES. 


SCOVILL  MFG-.  CO.,  Trade  Agents. 

XXIX 


Economy  is  Wealth, 


WE  HAVE  THE  LARGEST  EACILITIES  FOR 

IR.IEIF’IItsrilfcTQ- 

Photographic  Wastes. 

OUR  CHARGES  ARE  VERY  MODERATE , 

i 

VARYING  FROM  10  TO  15  PER  CENT., 

According  to  quantity  and  quality  of  Waste. 


QO 

wcfe  antr  liotwst  lUtttrns, 


AND  SOLICIT  A TRIAL. 


A circular,  “ How  to  Save  Waste,”  is  mailed 
upon  application. 


CHAS.  COOPER  & CO., 


194  Worth  Street,  New  York. 


ESTABLISHED  1857. 


O (UM3A 


3334,5 


